Abstract/Summary

There are around 300 documented copper deposits,
occurrences and showings in Afghanistan as shown in Figure
1. A variety of styles of copper mineralisation occur in rocks
ranging in age from Proterozoic to Neogene. These include
sediment-hosted, skarn, porphyry, and vein-hosted, as well as
other types. The largest and best-known copper discovery in
Afghanistan is the world-class Aynak stratabound deposit
hosted within Vendian-Cambrian quartz-biotite-dolomite
metasedimentary rocks 30 km south-south-east of Kabul.
Soviet surveys in the 1970s and 1980s indicated resources of
240 Mt at 2.3 % Cu. However, Afghanistan has yet to be
evaluated in the light of modern mineral deposit models and
improved analytical methods. From a global perspective,
Afghanistan is relatively under explored and the potential for
further discoveries of copper and other minerals is high. A
summary of the potential for copper in Afghanistan is shown
in Table 1.